We went to several malls, Targets, Walmarts, and other stores. Of course, shopping around means eating out too. Girls need some shopping sustenance! We've walked a lot of miles through the merchandise and down the malls, except Libby. That kid has it easy! I want to ride in the stroller for once.
Christmas shopping is fun though. Crowds, lines at the checkouts, picked over merchandise, things out of place, filthy public restrooms, no decent parking spaces... ah, good times.
I love all of the Christmas trees and decorations in the malls. So very pretty! Really, you can't get that experience online. The stores are all decked out with pretty ornaments and displays. Christmas music playing. I love that.
What I didn't find in the crowded malls, I found online. I only ordered from three stores, but all of my shipments came in plenty of time, all correct, and none too expensive. Love it! The problem with ordering online comes when the package arrives. Luckily, they are wrapped well and nobody can see what is inside. But, the kids are excited for packages. The first box arrived and I told the kids "It's soap", of course, they wanted to see it. Darn, that was supposed to work! "It's toilet cleaning soap". Ohhh, never mind. Excitement gone. The next package, I said it was for Dad. Well, no excitement in that! The next package arrived while we were all in the driveway so the kids saw the box. It says Disney on it, has Mickey and Pluto on the box... it was hard to squelch the excitement over what was in the box. I just shoved it into the van and locked the doors, in fact, it is still there. Apparently they forgot.
We saw Santa twice. Once in Disneyland in mid-November and yesterday at Shakey's Pizza. I saw him in the malls, but steered the kids away from looking in that direction. I just didn't feel like standing in line to visit Santa after we'd already seen the best Santa on earth at Disneyland. The Santa at Shakey's was great though. He could have been more animated, but his costume was the best and his authentic hair and beard couldn't be beat! He even had glitter in his beard! His visit with Gracie was magical so I'm glad we went to see him. Two great Santa visits this year, sweet!
Make that three. I almost forgot about the Santa that comes through our neighborhood to collect food for the needy. We ran down the street to meet him. Gracie noticed that he wasn't the real Santa Claus and she had a lot of questions about that! He didn't have a real beard, that's the tip-off. Faker.
I've been sewing every chance I get! I'm not done yet, so I will be at the machines burning the midnight oil the next couple of nights. I made stockings for the whole family about 6 years ago. We have five stockings. We've been doubling up in them to make them stretch for all of us, but with ten of us this year (and the dog) I decided we just need new stockings. I set out to find just the right fabric and lining to make ten stockings, plus I should make a few extra since Katie will probably give us lots of grand-babies in the future and I'll never find matching fabric again. I had to go to three stores to find exactly what I wanted, but I found it. I have five done, several more to go! I also could not find a yellow dress anywhere. I did find some very pretty yellow fabric, so I bought two yards, which is more than enough.
The kids did a few crafts. It's hard to do crafts with a wild toddler who loves to jam crayons in his ears. Luckily, we got Henry to paint his hands and feet and make some tree ornaments. My gift from my grandson. I love my new decorations!
Once again, I didn't get Christmas cards sent out. I love Christmas cards; I had every intention of getting them all done, but it didn't happen. Maybe next year. I didn't do any baking neither. I'm not much of a baker, so this should be no surprise. I am pretty good at buying baked goods at the grocery store, and I did that pretty well!
One of our favorite things to do before Christmas is to just drive around to see the pretty lights. Some neighborhoods are lit up nicely. Our neighborhood is fairly dark, just a few lights and inflatable yard decorations. We found a cul-de-sac of 13 homes on the other side of town that were completely lit up and set to music. They were all connected and had a radio station for the music, plus speakers as you walked. The neighbors handed out candy canes. It was wonderful!
Christmas will come whether I am ready or not, and I'm mostly ready. Plenty of food, presents, the whole family will be here. The house is clean enough, the sewing machines have been running and whatever I don't get done, I'll finish in later days. Maybe.
